Tom Chambers and Donald Sterling spent their first two years in the NBA together and it did not take racist behavior for Chambers to have misgivings about his first NBA owner.

"I didn't know anything about the racist stuff," said Chambers, the Phoenix Suns broadcast analyst who was drafted by the then-San Diego Clippers in 1981 when Sterling bought the franchise for $12.5 million. "He was always slippery, slimy and sleazy about paying people. We had to fight for checks. We had to go to a different hotel every time because he never paid the bill. He was just the cheapest guy I've ever come across."

Chambers applauded NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's move Tuesday to ban Sterling from any association with the Clippers and the NBA for life, fine him the maximum $2.5 million and urge the Board of Governors to enact a three-fourths vote that can force him to sell the franchise.

"It was awesome," Chambers said. "It was exactly what needed to happen to set the tone. That stuff just can't be accepted in the NBA or anywhere for that matter.

"He's always been a creepy guy. This is great because nobody is ever going to want to rub shoulders with him. Nobody is going to want to be seen with him. It's a good thing for a guy who has taken advantage of the system and a lot of people."

Chambers said Sterling rarely talked to players during his two seasons as a Clipper but they had an idea of how he saw them because they were the only team in the league that took flights in coach. Before his first game for the team, Chambers spent his most time with Sterling when they went to dinner and Chambers said Sterling's credit card was declined.

Photos: Donald Sterling through the years

Longtime Clippers owner Donald Sterling, shown in 2010, has been banned by the NBA. Flip through this gallery for more of Sterling. (Photo: Mark J. Terrill, AP)

Sterling and former GM Elgin Baylor pose after Baylor, who later sued the team for wrongful termination, won the 2005-06 NBA Executive of the Year Award. (Photo: Andrew D. Bernstein, NBAE/Getty Images)

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Chambers said he never saw racist behavior or knew of any until he was part of a federal discrimination lawsuit involving tenancy of his properties. He certainly knew Sterling was odd from the beginning, when Sterling ran across the basketball floor after a game while holding a glass of white wine to jump onto Coach Paul Silas with his arms and legs wrapped around him in celebration of the team's first win.

"It was all about him," Chambers said. "I don't think he's every willingly written a check. If a coach gets fired by him, they have to go to court to get their money and then they settle for less. He was bad. Everything he did was about having pretty girls on his arm. He'd promote women but it was self-serving, narcissistic stuff."

After spending years around current Clippers players Jared Dudley and Matt Barnes and Clippers assistant coach Alvin Gentry when they were part of the Suns, Chambers thinks he knows how they have felt about the Sterling scandal that has overwhelmed the Clippers-Warriors first-round playoff series.

"They were disgusted to go and work and make one dollar for a guy who has that type of belief," Chambers said. "He thinks it's his game and he's putting food on their table. I heard the analogy that it's the plantation mentality. That's pretty close to the stuff he was saying. It's sad. He's just a tired, old man. We don't want to waste our time on this guy any more."

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life. USA TODAY Sports takes a look back at Sterling's ownership of the franchise that has reached the postseason seven times in his 33 years as owner.

1981

1984

1987

1990

1993

1996

1999

2002

2005

2008

2011

2014

1981

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

1981

Sterling buys the struggling San Diego Clippers for about $13 million.

1984

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

1984

The Clippers relocate north, to Los Angeles, as attendance and interest in San Diego was low.

1988

USA TODAY Sports

1988

The Clippers get the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft for the first time in franchise history and select Danny Manning from Kansas. Manning struggles with injuries in his rookie season but eventually becomes an All-Star before being traded in 1994.

1992

USA TODAY Sports

1992

The Clippers make the playoffs for the first time under Sterling and first time since 1976, when they were the Buffalo Braves. Coach Larry Brown's team, led by Manning, beats the Utah Jazz in Game 3 but is forced to relocate to Anaheim for Game 4 because of the Rodney King riots. The Clippers lose the series 3-2.

1996

Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

1996

Sterling shoots down a deal, according to the Los Angeles Times, to move the Clippers to Anaheim, where they would have shared a venue with the Anaheim Ducks.

1998

Michael Chow/azcentral sports

1998

The Clippers get the No. 1 pick in the draft for the second time under Sterling and select Michael Olowokandi out of Pacific. Olowokandi proceeded to average 9.9 points and 8.0 rebounds in five seasons with the Clippers and has gone down as a major draft bust.

1999

Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

1999

The Clippers move to Staples Center, sharing the building with Los Angeles Lakers after years of having Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena to themselves and the University of Southern California. The move comes before the same season that began a run of three championships in a row for the Lakers.

2006

Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

2006

The U.S. Department of Justice sues Sterling for housing discrimination, claiming he had made statements against renting to Latino and black tenants. Sterling settled the lawsuit in 2009, with a payout of $2.765 million.

2008

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

2008

The Clippers open a 42,500 square-foot complex in Playa Vista, Calif., for training and practice, which Sterling paid for himself at an estimated cost of $50 million.

2009

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

2009

Longtime Clippers executive Elgin Baylor files a civil lawsuit for wrongful termination against Sterling and the organization. In the lawsuit's initial filing, Baylor said Sterling embraced "a Southern plantation-type structure." During the trial, a bevy of allegations of racism were levied against Sterling, many involving former Clippers players.

2009

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

2009

The Clippers get the No. 1 overall draft pick, their third under Sterling, and select Blake Griffin of Oklahoma, who has developed into a perennial All-Star.

2011

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

2011

The NBA, running the New Orleans Hornets, rejects a trade of Hornets star point guard Chris Paul to the Lakers and instead agrees to a deal sending Paul and two second-round draft picks to the Clippers for Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and a first-round pick.

2014

Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

2014

Gossip website TMZ.com releases an audio recording of a man the site says is Sterling speaking with a female friend and deriding her affiliation with several prominent black people.

2014

Associated Press

2014

Denouncing Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling's racist comments in strong language, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced the league has banned Sterling for life and fined him $2.5 million.